The Truth Is Out There
by maybeforever
Summary: When a couple of dead Petty Officers are found the team is sent in to investigate.  Problem is, there is no trace of evidence, cause of death, anything.  Definitely Tiva.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my very first piece of fanfiction. Reviews/critiques are encouraged.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. Sad, but true.

**Chapter 1**

"Good Morning, McGee. Tony." Ziva David greeted as she settled herself into her desk at NCIS headquarters.

"Shhh…I've almost…Got it! I got it. Haha, Mcprobie, I got it."

"What exactly did you get?" Ziva questioned her partner, curiously eyeing his enthusiasm.

"I just won all nine seasons of _The X-Files_ on eBay, and I only had to shell out sixty bucks."

"What are these, ex-files?" Ziva asked rounding her desk to stand near Tony's. She looks over his shoulder to get a better look at his screen.

"Only the greatest supernatural crime drama ever created." Tony replied, "I want to believe!" He said imitating the popular tagline.

"Yeah, I always hoped Mulder and Scully would just admit they were totally in love." Mcgee added from behind his desk.

"That would be the kiss of death Mcgushy."

"Ah, kiss of death I get." Ziva said, looking down to meet Tony's piercing eyes. They held each other's stare just long enough.

"If you two kiss, it will mean death." Gibbs said breaking the tension. "Grab your gear we've got a dead petty officer."

Gibbs rounded to his desk, coffee cup in hand. He opened the draw that housed his service weapon and badge. Withdrawing both, he placed his SIG holster on his right hip and his badge on his left. "Let's move!"

The team made their way to the elevator and rode it down to the garage in silence.

The scene of the crime didn't look at all like a crime scene. A woman, mid-twenties, lay curled up under a quilt on her living room couch, her television still playing at low volume. Her body looked at peace, as if she were sleeping under a warm blanket. Her quilt was not warm enough though, because her body was cold to the touch. She was definitely dead, but how still remained a mystery.

"Got a time of death, Duck?" Gibbs asked his medical examiner.

"Well I would wager she's been deceased now for several hours. Approximately twelve, maybe fourteen considering the fact that she's been under this blanket all that time.

"Got a cause of death Ducky?"

"Now Jethro, as for as I'm concerned, there is no reason why this young petty officer should be dead. There are no physical evidence of abuse, no evidence of poison, nothing. I won't know anything until I open her up."

"Okay, Ducky." Gibbs turned to his team, "DiNozzo, sketch and shoot. Ziva, bag and tag. McGee, computer." His team scattered to perform the necessary investigations.

"There isn't much here." Ziva complained to Tony while folding the quilt to place in an evidence bag.

"Yeah, strange. There's no sign of entry, no sign of foul play, nothing. I don't even know what I should be sketching."

"Perhaps, McGee will have better luck with her computer." Ziva offered.

"Hardly," McGee added as he walked through the living room, the petty officers laptop in hand, "the computer has been erased. I mean really erased. There is nothing here, no operating system, nothing. Maybe Abby will have better luck with this in her lab.

After a few more minutes investigating the scene, Gibbs rounded up his team and instructed them back to the squad room.

"Wha'da'ya got, Ducky?" Gibbs asked, stepping into autopsy.

"Well my dead friend, it looks as if we've still got a mystery. I've not been able to find anything physically wrong with our petty officer. Abby is currently running tox screens as we speak, but even the most illusive toxin would provide me with some sort of physical evidence of which to piece the puzzle together with."

Gibbs was out of the sliding glass door before Ducky could launch himself into one of his lectures. His next destination: Abby's lab.

"That can't be you Gibbs, I haven't gotten anything yet." Abby called over her loud music.

"Turn it down, Abs."

She obliged, pointing her remote toward her stereo. The noise quieting from deafening to slightly less deafening.

"Gibbs, I don't have anything yet. Why are you here?"

"How long until you do?"

"You can't rush science, Gibbs. How many times have I told you that?" Just as the words escaped her lips alarms sounded signaling the results of her testing.

"How do you always do that? It's like you know I'm going to get something. You never cease to amaze…oh crap. No way." Abby looked down disappointed and in shock of her findings.

"What is it Abs?"

"Nothing, it's nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"It's absolutely nothing. That's what my test results read. There were no known toxins the petty officers body."

"We've got something, Boss." McGee says over Abby's music as he walks into her lab.

"What, McGee?"

"Another dead petty officer, found in the same conditions as the one down stairs. And get this, they work together in the same office."

"Do we know anything else McGee?"

"No." McGee answered as Ziva and Tony joined the team.

"Looks like this could be a case for Mulder and Scully, huh Boss?" Tony added.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of their characters.

**Chapter 2**

Gibbs just couldn't help himself. He landed one of his famous slaps right to the back of his senior field agent's head.

"If I hear one more person say something about that damn show I will fire all of you."

"Wait, what about me Gibbs. You wouldn't fire me." Abby spoke.

"Don't try me today, Abs." And with that he was gone.

"What is wrong with him?" Ziva questioned. Gibbs had already boarded the elevator and punched the number for the garage.

"Let's go!" he shouted at his team.

The crime scene resembled the one they'd seen earlier. The petty officer lay reclined in his recliner, his T.V. still playing at a low volume. Any other untrained observer would assume the man was sleeping.

"McGee, who contacted the authorities about this body?" Gibbs asked taking a long pull of his coffee.

"Uhh, the neighbor called over this morning when Petty Officer Daniels didn't meet him at the end of his drive. Apparently they've been chatting and the end of the drive everyday for the past five years. The neighbor said they always get the paper at the same time."

"So what, he just called 911 and they came over because Daniels didn't get his paper on time this morning?"

"Not exactly. Daniels neighbor used the spare key to make sure everything was okay. Said he had a gut feeling that something was off." McGee added.

"Is that so?" was all Gibbs had to add.

"Jethro, the time of death seems to coincide with Petty Officer Davis, our young lady from this morning. I'm fairly certain their TOD is identical." Ducky informed Gibbs. "Mr. Palmer, will you please get the gurney? We need to get this body back to autopsy. Hopefully he'll have more to tell us than his co-worker."

Gibbs gave his instructions to his team as they started their crime scene investigation. He was looking around the scene himself when his phone rang.

"Yeah, Gibbs." He answered in his special way. Ziva was the only one to notice the way his face seemed to drain as he slammed the cell shut.

"What is wrong, Gibbs?" She asked gently. McGee and Tony took notice and all of their attention was waiting for Gibbs to explain.

"Their CO was found. Dead. The director wants us to finish up here and meet him at the next scene." Gibbs informed his team. Perplexed looks plastered on each of their faces. Before anyone could speak Gibbs had vacated the house.

"This is not good, is it?" Ziva said turning to Tony.

"No, no it is not."

* * *

"Gibbs, do we have any idea as to how and why these people have died?" Vance asked, as he slipped under the crime scene tape.

"No, not yet."

"This is a little too strange for my tastes. The project these officers were working on was of top-secret clearance. I don't even have access to it." The two walked into the house together to talk to Ducky.

"Ah, Vance. It's never a good thing to see the Director at a crime scene. I assume this is now a matter of national security?" Ducky greeted the Director.

"Yes, I do believe it is, Dr. Mallard." Vance took a walk around the crime scene.

"DiNozzo, do you have anything?" Vance asked before Gibbs could address his senior field agent. Tony gave Gibbs a knowing look before addressing the Director. Tony, of all people, knew just how much it annoyed his boss when his superiors treated his team their own.

"A dead Command Officer, and two dead Petty Officers. Yeah, that's about it. Just another Wednesday here at NCIS. But wait, we can't figure out what it was that killed either of them, there is no forensics, no evidence of foul play. So, Director we have nothing."

Out of her peripheral vision Ziva noticed three agents duck under the crime scene tape. She was observant enough to realize they were indeed agents, but she hadn't the slightest clue as to who they were or whom they worked for. She did know that they were certainly not a part of NCIS. "Gibbs, I think we have company." She warned.

"Special Agent Gibbs?" The leader of the three asked as he reached the crowd in the Command Officers living room. "I'm Special Agent Neil, OSI."

"Agent Neil, what can I do for you?" Gibbs asked eyeing Neil up and down.

"I'm here to take over this case."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to all who have read/favored/reviewed my story. I'm still hard at work on this and plan to introduce a new chapter each day. There will be a point, I promise. I've plans to make this story Tiva, I'm just working out all of the details. So be anticipating the love. Hope you enjoy. Again, reviews/critiques are more than welcome and highly encouraged.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS :(

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Special Agent James Neil worked for The Office of Special Investigations, the Air Force equivalent of NCIS. The agent stood a couple of inches taller than Gibbs. His face was very hansom but his eyes were a bit alarming. Those dark irises held more secrets than one could imagine. His dark hair complemented his dark features. High cheekbones suggested he was of Native American ancestry.

"What do you mean you're taking over my case." Gibbs questioned the agent in front of him.

"Here are our signed orders. My team is to head up the rest of this investigation." Agent Neil spoke, handing Gibbs a file of papers. Gibbs flipped through them quickly, looking for the signer. Tony stood behind his boss, reading over his shoulder. He let out a gasp as his eyes traced over the printed name under the signature.

A knowing glance passed between Vance and Gibbs as he handed off the folder to the NCIS director.

"Agent Neil—I'm Leon Vance, Director of NCIS. Why did you not address me with this? Why did you ask for Agent Gibbs?"

"Because that's who I was instructed to relieve."

"Be that as it may, I as still the director of NCIS. Don't you think I would be the first person to notify that OSI will be taking over our investigation, which leads me to my next question—why is the Air Force concerning itself with a few dead squids?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss the nature of our investigation." Neil responded to the questions Vance had posed.

"Your investigations?" Gibbs spat.

"Yes, my team will be continuing this investigation. Agent Gibbs, this is Special Agent Jordan Fisher and Special Agent Sean Harrods."

Jordan Fisher wore a dark blue pantsuit with matching flats. She had a short stature, and wore her long blonde hair in a low ponytail to keep it out of her face. Her skin suggested she spent as little time as possible outside. Her partner, Sean Harrods stood tallest in the room. His height and skinny frame resembled that of a college basketball player. He wore dark jeans with a dress shirt and a black sports jacket. His outfit dangerously bordered the line between office formal and office casual.

Before Gibbs could make his introductions Agent Neil looked around the room and greeted each member of team Gibbs. This not only surprised Gibbs, but also annoyed him more than anything.

"Let's go, there's nothing else left for us to do here." Gibbs barked at his team.

"But Boss, your not going to just let them come in here and take our case away from us are you?" Tony asked as he walked out of the house beside Gibbs.

"Well, DiNozzo, what do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe, you could convince Neil to let us 'assist' with the investigation." Ziva's emphasis on the word "assist" sparked Gibbs attention. "They are at some point going to have to collect the evidence we took from the other two crime scenes, perhaps you could 'persuade' them to let us help."

"If by persuade, you mean hide the evidence until they agree. Good thinking, David." You could actually see the gears turning in Tony's head as he thought of ways to force the OSI to allow them the chance to continue with this most unusual case.

"Go back to the navy yard, I'll meet you there later." And with that Gibbs was off.


End file.
